A long time ago, on a Shepperton, England soundstage far, far away, one of the darkest crimes of the entire Galactic Civil War was committed: no one gave Chewbacca a medal for helping blow up the Death Star at the end of A New Hope! At least, not on-camera, which has led to an interesting dialog between Star Wars fans and Lucasfilm storytellers over the years, so we’re recapping the entire bewildering saga as it unfolded in chronological order.
Warning: this post contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker!
The Source of the Chewbacca Controversy
To start, let’s light-skip back to 1970’s brainspace. As a fresh-faced Star Wars fan in ‘77, this seemed like a glaring omission: why no Medal of Honor for Chewie? After all, he served aboard the Millennium Falcon, the ship that provided crucial assistance to Luke so he could successfully blow up the Death Star, thus saving the lives of everyone at that medal ceremony. Plus, you’ll remember that Han Solo initially refused to help the Rebels, yet they still gave him a medal. It feels unfair for Han to leave Yavin 4 with fresh bling draped around his elegant shoulders while Chewbacca only has that lusterless silver bowcaster bandolier thingy.
Source: IGN.com The Bewildering Saga of Chewbacca's Missing Medal in Star Wars